Zeitgeist: The Movie – 2007 by Peter Joseph from ZeitgeistMovie.com on Vimeo.
Since the original public performance of “Zeitgeist” in 2007, there has been an evolution of intent which has manifested into an on-going film expression consisting now of multiple productions. While each film stands on its own with regard to content, the Zeitgeist Film Series as a whole has a dedicated social intent to create awareness about the world we share, the problems we face, along with what we can do to make it better as a collective species.
As alluded to above, the history of “Zeitgeist: The Movie” is not what many assume. The original Zeitgeist was not a film, but a performance piece, which consisted of a vaudevillian style multi-media event using recorded music, live instruments and video. The event was given over a 6-night period in New York City and then, without any interest to professionally release or produce the work, was “tossed” up on the Internet arbitrarily. The work was never designed as a film or even a documentary in a traditional sense – it was designed as a creative, provoking, emotionally driven expression, full of artistic extremity and heavily stylized gestures. (For more about the evolution of “Zeitgeist, The Movie” please see the Q & A at www.zeitgeistthefilm.com )
However, once online, an unexpected flood of interest began to generate. Within 6 months over 50 Million views were recorded on Google Video counters (before they were reset for some reason). The current combined estimates put the number of Internet views at over 100 million as of 2009. Suddenly “Zeitgeist” the event, became “Zeitgeist: The Movie”.
In turn, the decision was made to make a follow up in 2008 entitled “Zeitgeist: Addendum”. (www.zeitgeistaddendum.com) Originally this was going to conclude the series, introducing ideas of resolve for some of our ongoing social problems. Yet, this work succeeded in sparking a mass shift of attention, inspiring the development of an activist organization now called The Zeitgeist Movement. This Movement, founded by Peter Joseph in conjunction with Jacque Fresco’s “Venus Project”, now works globally to spread information about a new social system called a Resource Based Economy. With over 420,000 registrations from nearly all countries as of mid 2010, the development has been dynamic.
However, this is an aside- The Zeitgeist Film Series, while an inspiration for The Movement which shares the term “Zeitgeist”, is not to be confused with the content/views of the films in detail. The Zeitgeist Movement is an economic/sustainability movement at its core and its relationship to the Film Series content is not consistent. The Films, while now moving to promote The Movement more so in part, are still intellectual/artistic treatments and are not to be considered a basis for The Movement itself. Please see www.thezeitgeistmovement.com for more information on this important social revolution.
Now, a new production is in the works, the third film of the series, which will be entitled “Zeitgeist: Moving Forward”. This work will focus on the state of modern scientific understandings with regard to human behavior, along with advanced technological and organizational methods which could improve our society greatly, reducing the possibility of severe ecological problems for the future and hence working towards true global sustainability for the species itself. More on this work can be found on its website: www.zeitgeistmovingforward.com
As a whole, this Film Project will likely continue given the large audience that has emerged to support it.In other words, a long-term series of films under the title of “Zeitgeist” is underway. As the definition of “Zeitgeist” states, we are dealing with the “intellectual/spiritual/cultural awareness of the time” and it is the goal of this project to explore what makes us who we are, how we relate, what we are doing and what we should be doing if we wish to live in a peaceful, abundant, and healthy global community.
Beyond that, please note that all the films are available for free viewing/download. 5$ DVD with cases are also made available for purchase. This “not-for-profit” price structure, which is essentially 75% less that the average cost of such a DVD product commercially, is presented to the public as a gesture of intent. This isn’t about money – it is about getting this important information out there. Likewise, while the films are fully copyright overall to protect from profit oriented piracy, we encourage everyone to duplicate, upload, post and screen at will- just as long as there is no monetary exchange. However, please have no illusions here- this Project is only possible to continue if people do purchase the $5 DVD. So, while you have the option to get everything for free, please respect the fact that money is still the driving mechanism for exchange in our current system and, sadly, each one of us have to “make money” somehow to continue.
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